Charred Memories
by Akela Victoire
Summary: Memories of Chris' past come back to haunt him, memories he could never forget, memories which shaped him into the cruel TV show host he is today. And with them come a certain ghost, who is right at the heart of those memories...


This idea occurred to me as I was working on my Total Drama/Danny Phantom fusion fic _Cody Phantom_ and watching the Danny Phantom episode "Fanning the Flames" which is Ember's debut episode. And after looking up the full lyrics of Ember's "Remember", I just had to write this…

**Disclaimer: **I'm not Butch Hartman, Tom McGillis or Jennifer Pertsch, therefore I have no ownership in either of these fandoms.

* * *

"Look alive folks! We're going to have a new arrival!" Spectra said.

"How can we look alive? _We're ghosts! _We're all already dead!" Ember asked annoyed.

Several of the other ghosts nodded in agreement with her.

"Why are we even doing this?" Skulker asked.

"_Because,_ Skulker. It's tradition. Just like our Christmas Truce with the ghost kid. We come together when we sense the arrival of a new ghost!" Spectra narrowed her eyes at him.

"They're coming!" Kitty exclaimed.

A portal appeared in front of them and a very confused-looking ghost floated out.

His face was a pale blue and his hair was light green flame, reaching to his shoulders, giving him an Emo look. His eyes were icy blue and he wore black steel-toed boots with black pants tucked into them, black metallic gauntlets and a long, red coat over a black vest.

"Snazzy outfit…" Kitty raised an eyebrow.

"What… What happened? Where am I?" He said, looking puzzled.

Then he noticed the other ghosts.

"AAH! GHOSTS!" He began to freak out.

"Calm down, new kid. You're a ghost too, you know." Skulker said.

"Wait. I'm a ghost?" The new ghost glanced down at himself, ran his fingers through his new flame-like hair and examined his fingers.

"AAH! I'M A GHOST!" He screamed again.

Ember face-palmed.

"Get a grip!" She shook the new ghost.

"What… _whaa… _I can't believe it. I'm dead. I'm actually dead. He managed to actually kill one of us off at last…" The ghost said in disbelief.

"You were murdered?" Skulker asked.

"Kind of… I was an intern in life on a Canadian reality show and there was a challenge that went bad involving a volcano…"

The other ghosts shuddered, recalling how they had died, some of them in not-so-pleasant ways…

"What kind of sadistic freak does that?" Poindexter pondered, not certain he wanted to know the answer…

"His name's Chris McLean and he's the foulest human being (if he can be called that!) that I've ever met…"

Ember's eyes widened in recognition at the name, but she recovered quickly.

"McLean. _McLain._ Ember do you know the human of which he speaks?" Skulker asked.

"How should I know? There are probably tons of people with that same last name out there…" Ember shrugged.

"Well he's been welcomed to the Ghost Zone so let's split." Desiree disappeared in a cloud of smoke and the other ghosts followed her example- except Ember.

"So…" Ember turned to the new ghost. "I realise I didn't get your name…" She said in a voice that made his flame-hair stand straight.

"W-W-W-William. William Davidson. But people called me Billy." He stammered.

"Fine then Billy. Why don't you tell me a bit more about this… Chris McLean?" She asked.

"Why are you so interested in him?" Billy raised an eyebrow.

"_Wanna question me?"_ Ember snarled, getting out her guitar and demonstrating the skull beam on a nearby rock.

"No, no, no, no, NO! I'll tell you everything you want to know!" Billy held up his hands in a gesture of surrender.

"Now _that's_ what I wanted to hear…" Ember grinned.

* * *

Chris McLean sat in his lavish living room, drinking a beer.

He glanced at a calendar nearby.

"Oh great. It's December 15. I hate that day…" He said, drinking some more.

"Uh, Chris, you sure you want to be drinking so much? That ain't good for your system…" Chef said, walking in, actually looking worried.

"_Go away, Chef." _He moaned.

"Fine. Fine…" Chef held his hands up as in surrender, putting on his winter coat before leaving.

When Chris heard the door shut behind him, he sighed and took another sip of his beer.

* * *

In another corridor of Chris' mansion, a green portal appeared and Ember stepped out of it, guitar and all.

"Thanks for the favour, Wulf. I owe you one!" She gave a salute towards the portal as it closed.

She heard a noise coming from down the corridor so she made sure her guitar was firmly in place before flying towards it.

Phasing her head through the door, she saw Chis, opening yet another bottle of beer, throwing the last one he had to the floor, joining several others there.

"_What has he come to?"_ Ember thought sadly, before fully phasing through the door, albeit remaining invisible as she continued to watch Chris.

* * *

"I can't take this anymore… Why'd you have to leave me Amber, why?" Chris wailed.

Ember couldn't take it any longer.

She reappeared gradually in front of him.

"_Hey there, little bro…"_ She said softly.

"What? Who's there?" Chris looked around.

"It's me. _Amber._" Ember said softly.

"Amber? No. No… I must be going mad. It can't be Amber. Amber died in that fire years ago…" Chris slurred, taking another sip of his beer.

"But I came back Christian…" Ember floated forward, holding his hands in hers. _"I came back…"_

"Y-you- came b-back as a ghost. _As a ghost?_" he stammered.

"I hate seeing you like this." Ember turned her guitar to regular music playing mode and began to play.

"_Your life goes on without me_

_My life, a losing game_

_But you should, you should not doubt me_

_You will remember my name"_

Chris' eyes widened. "I remember that song… I heard you playing it a few months before you… _died._ It really is you, Amber. It really is…" he said sadly.

"Yeah, it's me little bro though I go by Ember now. I'm a little surprised you remember. You were only eight when the fire happened…" Ember said.

"Why? Why couldn't you get out on time?" Chris asked softly.

Ember went forward to hug him, her cold ghost skin against her brother's warm human skin.

"It doesn't matter. I saved you, didn't I?" Her eyes glossed over as she remembered what happened- and so did Chris.

* * *

December 15. A day that would change Chris McLean's life forever.

Their parents had gone out to some adult Christmas party but he didn't mind. Those were pretty boring for a little kid anyway.

Amber was locked in her room, moping.

Little Chris hadn't known what caused it, but he noticed that ever since September, his sister hadn't been the cheerful, perky girl she used to be.

It made him sad. He missed his big sister playing games with him, joking around, having a good time… His mom and dad never did that with him…

He missed the old Amber.

He was distracted for a moment by his stomach rumbling so he went into the kitchen to get himself a snack.

Using a chair to get himself to the top of the cupboard, he retrieved a chocolate chip cookie from the cookie there and walked off happily, back to the drawing he was doing before.

Then he heard a crackling noise from the corner of the room.

Their parents had brought a brand new entertainment system a few days prior so they should show off to their friends when they came over for their own stuffy adult Christmas party.

So it shouldn't be making those noises. It was brand new, wasn't it?

Sparks flew from it.

Okay, it definitely shouldn't be doing that.

The sparks set the carpet on fire and quickly spread to the nearby Christmas tree.

_Or that…_

Chris screamed and ran upstairs.

* * *

Amber remained locked in her room, strumming a few notes of her song. With curly light brown, almost blonde hair that reached just past her shoulders and olive green eyes, she would have been a beauty- if she didn't look so depressed.

"_Oh, Ember, you will remember_

_Ember, one thing remains_

_Oh, Ember, so warm and tender_

_You will remember my name" _She finished softly.

Alexander was going to pay for what he did. Cheating on her with her _best friend _Becky. How could they?

A few tears fell from her eyes as she made to put take off her guitar strap, but she stopped when she heard Chris screaming.

"Amber! Fire! Downstairs!" She heard him screaming and banging on her door.

She sniffed the air and her eyes widened.

_Smoke!_

She flung open the door, narrowly missing whacking Chris in the face.

"Fire? Come on Chris, we've gotta get you out of here!" She exclaimed in fear, not for herself, but for her brother.

She grabbed his hand and led him down the stairs, but the fire had spread rapidly and started burning the stairs.

"_Back up!"_ Chris started to cry. He didn't want to die…

They heard sirens in the distance.

"To the window!" They ran, flames coming behind them.

When they looked around however, the flames had them trapped.

"Go Chris! Jump out the window!" She commanded him.

"Wha?" Chris asked, startled.

"Just go!"

Before Chris knew what was happening, Amber had opened the window and tossed him out into some bushes.

Chis looked up and screamed as the flame reached where Amber was and she started screaming in pain…

* * *

"Ever since you died, my life has sucked. Sure I've got all this money, fame and all the fan girls a guy could ever want but none of that could buy happiness. I always wonder every day what life would have been like if you had lived. Would I have had any nieces or nephews, what you would have thought of my success…" He looked down.

"I'm proud of your success, little bro. But you can't go on like this. You became a terrible person to other people because I died, didn't you?" Ember asked sadly.

"I figured if the only person who really liked me for me was gone, what was it worth trying to be nice?" Chris shrugged, laughing hysterically.

"Try for me, won't you, little brother?" She asked as a green portal appeared behind her and she floated towards it.

"Wait! Where are you going? You can't leave me!" He cried out, running towards her.

Ember held her hands out to stop him, then took his hands in hers.

"I have to go, little bro. But promise me this, Chris. _Remember me…_" She gave him one final hug as she went into the portal and it shut behind her.

Chris sank back into his chair, beginning to cry.

"_Your life goes on without me… My life, a losing game… But you should, you should not doubt me… You will remember my name…" _That voice echoed in his head over and over again. He couldn't take it. He just couldn't…

* * *

"_**In the CBC News at six, the body of Canadian Reality show host Christian McLean was found in his Newfoundland Mansion. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police suspect suicide as the cause of death as fans mourn the loss of their idol in this tragic, unexpected death…"**_


End file.
